The end
by Swamp-Eyes
Summary: TifaSeph One years after the Meteor, Tifa gets stuck in the new Shinra prison, with the General she hates most.


The End  
  
Chapter 1  
  
"Tifa Lockheart"  
  
This is the end, beautiful friend This is the end, my only friend The end of our elaborate plans The end of everything that stands The end  
[The Doors]  
  
Tifa looked out of the window, shifting the curtain a little, just to let her thoughts wander. Hell. That was it. Her hand was shivering. Why did she had to be /so/ upset? After all, she had really spent a lot of time with /him/... What was the problem with seeing him again for a night? No. It didn't work. She felt a terrible knot on her stomach. She looked at herself in the mirror, and she tried to smile, not really convinced. A disaster. Stiff jaws, curved eyebrow; definitely, that was not a smile. That was a grimace. She flung herself on the sofa, her head in the pillow, with an enormous, stupid, grin. All that was surreal.  
  
"I'm seeing Cloud again tonight... going to /see him/...well, talk to him, I suppose.... And our gazes will lock, .... I will be able.. - I /cant/ believe this....- to touch him... he will be there with me...and.." Her thoughts were chaotic.  
  
She was so happy that she punched the pillow. But, anyway, the knot was still there. Well, yeah, probably that was ordinary. Nothing strange in it. She hadn't seen Cloud since the Meteor. Only one year had passed, but it had been /so/ long... She had been in a strange status, kind of...hovered, during it. Like as she had never really lived it.  
  
After Cloud's words, there in the Northern Crater.... °°° I think I can meet her.. there.°°° ... she had really believed to have /no/ chances. Cloud would just look for what he had no more; that meant /Aeris/.  
  
But, now, that sudden phone-call... strange phone-call, no doubt on it... kind of... /padded/, but /so beautiful/ ... and the /date/ (hell... a date with /Cloud/).. Tonight. Tonight she was seeing him again. /Him/.  
  
Having really no idea about how to dress up, she finished to choose her usual clothes: black mini-skirt, white top, with her leather gloves and belt. Everything like in the past. She didn't want Cloud to see her like a stranger; she wanted to look more like a ghost.  
  
It was springtime, so out of her house it wasn't cold at all. Just the evening breeze, but she liked it very much. It made her remember that Midgar was now free from the plate, and that was for sure a good point. She loved Midgar. But still hated it. Still loved. Still hated. It took 30 seconds before she managed to centre the keyhole with the key. She was just /too/ nervous.  
  
"Calm down Tifa.... Concentrate and just calm down... It's nothing. Really, it's nothing. Everything is perfectly ok, so calm down." She repeated to herself.  
  
She had gone through all sort of things, and, after that, she was convinced to have become an imperturbable woman, able to keep herself calm in every situation but.... Clearly she was wrong. God, right now, she looked like a silly schoolgirl at her first date! How sick! She needed more self-control. Definitely, /much/ more self-control.  
  
Her eyes were locked to the ground.  
  
"What do I have to do when I meet Cloud? Shake his hand? Hug him? Or just wait him to do something before I could do something..?"  
  
Honestly, she wasn't able to think about any of those chances. They all sounded incredible. She looked at the time. Fortunately, she wasn't late. The date was at 21. It was 8:45. The bar where Cloud was waiting for her was just 10 minutes far. Could it really be that he was /so/ near?  
  
Why had they two never met during that year? Thinking about what Cloud had said to her during the phone-call, she had had the impression that he had lived like a stray cat in the last ten months: no home, no job, no aim. But then, still /why/ didn't he ask her for help? Pride? Who knew. She had just been able to understand that Cloud was now going to buy a house there in Midgar. If that was true, it was /marvellous/. Seeing him everyday....  
  
"Stop, Tifa, stop. Just think about the date, now. Only the date." She concluded, while listening to her step's echo, and looking briefly at the shop-windows.  
  
Soon, she was caught by the terrible impression of being followed. There were strange footsteps behind her.. weren't they...? She entered immediately in a shop, pretending to be interested in a bracelet (horrible, besides..). She tried to stay calm, but her heart was beating faster, as she looked out of the shop. There was none there. None. Now she felt like an idiot. Imaginary footstep. Damn. "Too nervous. Calm down, you're being paranoid."  
  
Tifa hurried out of the shop, paying attention all around. No. There was none behind her. Then why did she felt in danger? "Paranoid." She repeated to herself. But, actually, a car approached her. "Oh god" She started to run, looking for someone who might have helped just in case of...well.. But there were just two old women. So useless... they could barely stand on both feet. Suddenly she stopped. What if there were no enemies in the car? What if that was Cloud? Well, now.  
  
"I suppose I can face the danger.. or what else.. and, possibly, as soon as I can.. Cloud's waiting... "  
  
She turned to the car. Wow, a blue Porsche. The guy was rich. The window lowered automatically. She was ready to fight. Well, she was ready to run away, too. The man inside smiled gently at her. She examined him suspiciously. Never seen him before. But she knew too well that uniform. A TURKS uniform. "Bloody hell..."  
  
-Good evening, sir. How can I help?- she asked.  
  
The man put off his cigarette, and narrowed his eyes, examining Tifa, then an image in his laptop, then again Tifa.  
  
-Tifa Lockheart. – he enunciated with clear voice – member of the rebel group AVALANCHE, avoided from death sentence, killer of tons of Shinra men. He smiled again. -Fine. We found the second one.  
  
There was absolutely no time to think, to run away, to fight. Actually, there was no time at all. The man grabbed her arm, plunging violently a needle in the veins of her wrist. After the sharp, terrible pain, her mind started to grow dim. In her last 3 seconds of consciousness, she couldn't but think at her date with Cloud, which was fading away....  
  
A creek of too stupid and too cheeky schoolgirls was grinning in a silly way, pointing a blonde boy, who was wearing a black-leather jacket, sitting at the counter quite resigned and looking at the time every 5 minutes. Finally, one of them stood up, and approached him awkwardly.  
  
-Emh.. H..Hello. What's your name?- she whispered  
  
The boy looked up to her, but it was impossible to say if he was /actually/ looking at her. His glance seemed to pass through her.  
  
"Never seen so strange eyes..." She thought.  
  
-Cloud.  
  
Man. That was quite unusual to say it. He had not used his real name for a long time, but now he was so absorbed, that he had let it slip out of his mouth.  
  
Why was Tifa still not there?  
  
-I' m Casey..- the girl continued. But he could barely listen..  
  
It was 22:05. Definitely, she couldn't be late. So, why?  
  
All the worst suppositions were now crossing his mind Did he come too late to warn her? No. That just couldn't be. It couldn't be /late/.  
  
"Just don't want to think about it. Don't want to."  
  
"If they really got her, then...... I cant do /anything/. She could be /everywhere/"  
  
He tried to cool down.  
  
"Strife, why do you always think about the worse? You will call her tomorrow. She will tell you she hasn't come because of a sudden engagement. That it is."  
  
He jumped to his feet, making Casey jump too. The girl looked at him widening his eyes. He placed his hands on her shoulder, and moved her away.  
  
-I'm absolutely pleased too meet you, Casey – he affirmed.  
  
Then he simply left the bar, his huge black boots resounding on the ground. Casey went back to her friend's table, with dreamy eyes. Her friends were laughing like idiots.  
  
AN: Well, guys, this is really hard. It took a lot. Anyway, excuse me for the terrible English... Swamp-Eyes 


End file.
